In this new segment we will explore commonly repeated "factoids" in order to determine whether they are substantive and useful. Perhaps you have heard the statement that the production and use of clothing creates more climate impact than that of flights and shipping combined? A range of organisations - including the United Nations - have referred to this when promoting the need for climate action in the fashion and textiles industry. But is this statement true? Mike spoke with Simon Glover, a journalist from Ecotextile News who recently investigated this topic, and Sandra Roos, a textile researcher at RISE Institute in Sweden, to learn what they found after digging deeper. Sandra also uses the opportunity to propose three things that are needed to ensure industry stakeholders have access to credible analysis to base their actions on.

In this new segment we will explore commonly repeated "factoids" in order to determine whether they are substantive and useful. Perhaps you have heard the statement that the production and use of clothing creates more climate impact than that of flights and shipping combined? A range of organisations - including the United Nations - have referred to this when promoting the need for climate action in the fashion and textiles industry. But is this statement true? Mike spoke with Simon Glover, a journalist from Ecotextile News who recently investigated this topic, and Sandra Roos, a textile researcher at RISE Institute in Sweden, to learn what they found after digging deeper. Sandra also uses the opportunity to propose three things that are needed to ensure industry stakeholders have access to credible analysis to base their actions on.

FACT OR FICTION: Does the apparel industry really create more greenhouse gases than flights and shipping combined?

Fashion and apparel. It touches nearly everyone. When its at its best, fashion and apparel is not only functional, but also fun, expressive, sexy, and for some businesses, very profitable. But when it is at its worst, fashion and apparel is superficial, exploitative, polluting and extremely wasteful - in other words the essence of unsustainable consumption. And while it is argued that the industry's rapid growth has created employment opportunities for more than 300 million people worldwide, especially for women in poorer countries and those in extreme poverty, many garment workers still struggle to earn enough to pay to meet even their most basic needs. More alarming is the fact that as the industry grows - by 2030 more than 8 billion people will live on the planet, and nearly 5 billion of these will be part of the global middle class - its negative environmental impacts may become unmanageable, potentially undermining its social benefits and contributing to ecosystem degradation on local, regional and global scales.

Who would have thought garments could be so destructive? 

The fashion industry must change now, but will we manage in time? Join Mike Schragger, founder of the Sustainable Fashion Academy, as he explores the challenges, incentives and disincentives and emerging solutions needed to rapidly transform the industry. Listen in as he talks with the business leaders, activists, researchers, innovators and entrepreneurs, investors, legislators, consumers and citizens - who are racing against the clock to find solutions that will transform the industry, thus ensuring it truly operates for the benefit of people and the planet.

www.sustainablefashionacademy.org/podcasts/big-closets-small-planet

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Fashion and apparel. It touches nearly everyone. When its at its best, fashion and apparel is not only functional, but also fun, expressive, sexy, and for some businesses, very profitable. But when it is at its worst, fashion and apparel is superficial, exploitative, polluting and extremely wasteful - in other words the essence of unsustainable consumption. And while it is argued that the industry's rapid growth has created employment opportunities for more than 300 million people worldwide, especially for women in poorer countries and those in extreme poverty, many garment workers still struggle to earn enough to pay to meet even their most basic needs. More alarming is the fact that as the industry grows - by 2030 more than 8 billion people will live on the planet, and nearly 5 billion of these will be part of the global middle class - its negative environmental impacts may become unmanageable, potentially undermining its social benefits and contributing to ecosystem degradation on local, regional and global scales. Who would have thought garments could be so destructive? The fashion industry must change now, but will we manage in time? Join Mike Schragger, founder of the Sustainable Fashion Academy, as he explores the challenges, incentives and disincentives and emerging solutions needed to rapidly transform the industry. Listen in as he talks with the business leaders, activists, researchers, innovators and entrepreneurs, investors, legislators, consumers and citizens - who are racing against the clock to find solutions that will transform the industry, thus ensuring it truly operates for the benefit of people and the planet. www.sustainablefashionacademy.org/podcasts/big-closets-small-planet

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FACT OR FICTION: Does the apparel industry really create more greenhouse gases than flights and shipping combined?

FACT OR FICTION: Does the apparel industry really create more greenhouse gases than flights and shipping combined?

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